The real bad “guy” (but really a “gal”), the infamous Brown Recluse. Spiders in Central Oregon are in a heap of trouble, and so are you. I say that because of a recent article in The Bulletin regarding a woman and her son who allegedly were bitten by so-called hobo spiders in their rental home in Terrebonne.
It is time for the medical community and those who suffer from arachnophobia and other arthropod-tainted fears to get their act in shape.
I’ve lived in Central Oregon for over 50 years in homes filled with just about every species of “house spider” there is, and have never been “bitten.” My children have been exposed to them from the time they were born, and they have never been bitten, chased or otherwise harmed by a spider, and neither have my neighbors or my neighbors’ kids.
Thousands upon thousands of people are living here and never experience an alleged “spider bite.” So let’s get off it! Let us find out what those alleged “bites” really are and what is causing them.
The illustration above is the real thing. That is a female brown recluse spider, known in the scientific community as Loxosceles reclusa. That spider’s venom can sometimes do a lot of damage to anyone bitten, and the venom (not “poison”) can sometimes be fatal to a child.
BUT THEY DO NOT (normally) LIVE IN OREGON!
In addition, they are not even remotely related to the feared-for-no-reason, much-maligned, so-called hobo spider, which in reality is akin to our very common harmless grass spider.
Most brown recluse bites are minor, with no necrosis (accidental death of cells and living tissue – which can also be caused by infection from excessive scratching of a flea bite). However, a small number of reclusa bites produce severe dermonecrotic lesions and, sometimes, severe systemic symptoms, including organ damage. The bite may also produce a systemic condition with occasional fatalities in children under seven or those with a weaker than normal immune system.
This gets us to an e-mail floating around showing extreme necrosis to a victim’s thumb. I received one from my brother in LaGrande, and from the look of the e-mail trail it has been circulating all over Oregon.
Over-diagnosis of brown recluse (and other so-called spider bites in general) is a nationwide problem.
In 1990, as many as 940 South Carolina physicians reported 478 brown recluse bites. In 2000 in Florida, 95 brown recluse bites were reported from the 21 counties under the jurisdiction of the Tampa Poison Control Center. Yet arachnologists (spider experts) who have worked for years in these regions and collected thousands of spiders never found recluses, and homeowners have yet to submit a local brown recluse to them for verification.
Moreover, there is not one piece of solid scientific evidence that hobo spiders in Oregon or elsewhere are responsible for necrosis and organic problems that inflict people. Even the infamous black widow, a spider that can inflict serious damage to humans, is often blamed and misdiagnosed.
Dr. Rick Vetter, who has carried out more research with brown recluse and other so-called “dangerous” spiders than anyone else in the US of A, published work on the brown recluse which I will condense for your pleasure.
Vetter and Diane Barger reported their findings in a paper published in the November 2002 issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology. Barger collected 2,055 brown recluse spiders from June to November 2001 in her 19th-century-built home in Lenexa, KS, and shipped them to Vetter for recluse verification.
He had this to say:
“If a family like the Bargers could live in a home with thousands of potentially venomous spiders and not be bitten, how many thousands and millions of brown recluses would have to live in South Carolina, Florida and California for [all those] bite diagnoses to be correct?”
I don’t have any room left to continue this, but if you tune in next week, I will try to convince you that other things that bite in the night should be looked at more carefully than spiders as the cause of damage to your sweet little body.
This article appears in Apr 17-23, 2008.
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I don’t think there are any brown recluses in Central Oregon. Probably too cold. But there absolutely, positively are lots of black widows — I’ve seen ’em.
No one I know has been bitten by a black widow. But then again, no one I know has been bitten by a rattlesnake, and I know they live around here and that they’re poisonous.
I saw a spider last night and was scared it was gonna bite me. hehe but I have an irrational fear of venomous spiders and the one I saw was probably harmless. But I know I have been bit by spiders before, just dont think it did anything but make me itch. I have a question tho.. if this person or her child was bit, what happened to them? And how did they determine the cause?
I lived on Florida street for a couple years while I went to college three decades ago. Like most of the old mill houses, mine came complete with cellar. In that cellar lived dozens if not hundreds of black widow spiders. I stored stuff down there and was in constant contact with their glass like webs. No problem. What an ellegant product of the evolutionary process. Perfect nearly from the get-go.
I have lived in Oregon for 58 years not counting 4 years Air Force. Never known anyone other than myself to get snake or spider bit. I was bitten by an unkonwn variety of spider as I slept at my Clatskanie River boathouse. Resulting in several years of circular rashes on my abdomen and back. Looked like ring worm without the inflamation. Vanished one year never to return.
I have been nearly everywhere and there is just nothing better than Oregon.
The author is incorrect about Hobo Spiders – they are very poisonous, and they live in the Pacific NW. Their bites do not harm you unless they become trapped against your body in a confined space. In that case, they transmit a powerful venom that attacks tissue. The more fatty tissue attacked, the deeper and more necrotic the wound tends to be. The bite resembled a mosquito bite, but within a few days the victim can develop flu like symptoms and the wound begins to ulcer; it can ulcer all the way to the bone. Teenage Hobo Spiders carry the most potent venom. There is an antidote – so it is important that if you believe you have been bitten by a Hobo Spider, you should see your health care provider as soon as possible.
When a person has been bitten by a hobo spider where it causes necrotic damage to tissue, it usually makes the news – it is a rare occurrence – but it can and does happen.
Hobo spiders are brown in color, and the coloring can vary. They are easily identified by a triangular shaped body and at their mouths they have two feelers that have the appearance of boxing gloves. Their webs are a little different from other spiders – they are funnel shaped and often are found in corners of buildings, fences, etc.
You can read about Hobo spiders on the internet, which describes and explains what I have just written.
I have found the best way to deal with Hobo spiders is to kill their offspring as soon as they come into our home. They begin to arrive in April, and they continue to visit us until October; they are very pronounced from June-August when the weather becomes warmer. I ordinarily do not kill spiders – but I will kill Hobo spiders because of the damage they do. I check my shoes and clothing during this spider season, and also bedding, and try to keep the bed away from the wall.
As I said, read the internet on the subject of Hobo spiders. You don’t need to be paranoid of them – but just be aware they are here. I have lived in the Pacific NW for 54 years, and the Hobo Spiders have always been here – and I have never had a necrotic bite yet – nor has anyone I know. Their necrotic bites are rare. Just be aware.
I live in Southern Oregon and see alot of Brown recluses and Black Widows. I have been bitten once by a brown recluse once and multiple times by black widows, i guess my luck is bad. Most Brown Recluse bits are not too damaging. At first by bite stung and itched like crazy. Its been about 3 years since and i still have the scar and a small hole in my sin from where i was bit. And black widow bites are not normally much more than a mosquitoe bite that itches for a couple weeks maybe a week and then goes away. But truth is brown recluses and black widows are VERY common in Oregon, maybe not so much in Central Oregon though. However, i have never been bit or have ever even see a Hobo spider before. I dont think they are too bad of spiders but they can be harmful.
We have many in Portland. I have been bitten. It took me over a summer to get better. I lost over 10 pounds. My friend also got bit on the hand and has nerve damage in her whole arm.
I have heard it said repeatedly that we do not have Brown Recluse in Oregon and certainly not near the cities. Well, that’s a CROCK! I lived in Portland and I was bitten by one on the top of my foot near my toes. What I thought was a nasty infection was actually necrosis going on. After being horribly ill for 3 days with people at my usual clinic not knowing the cause (even after examining my foot) I was fortunate my regular doctor came back from vacation. He took one look at my foot and promptly gave me two shots, one for each buttock cheek. He told me specifically that it was a Brown Recluse bite. I trust that he knew what he was talking about.
Unless you kept the spider for positive ID your quack MD cannot possibly be sure you were bitten by a hobo or recluse, as it is literally impossible to know for sure without a spider specimen and numerous follow up tests and venom lab workups. Any Dr. Who tells you a bite was by a specific spider on a first visit basis is giving his/her opinion only. Believe me most MDs know far more incorrect spider info than correct info. They are MDs, not entomologists. Also, we have ZERO proven Hobo spider bite infections. All have been opinions or weak at best anecdotal links to the spider. No proven bites with a captured spider have occurred as of 2014. I have spent countless hours researching this spider specifically and it is indeed an undeserved reputation. The same spider has lived in europe for thousands of years yet nobody has ever had a serious issue with them over there either. The only venemous spider worry worth to humans in Oregon is the Widow spider family. We have southern and western widows here mainly in southern Oregon and eastern Oregon with a few in central Oregon as well. Hopefully the brown widow doesn’t show up soon as they are far less afraid of living near human activity than thier black bretheren. They are however extremely timid and not prone to biting unless seriously harassed.
Watch infested morons…. there was a family that lives there that had the worst infestation of hobo spiders ever heard of
Lmfao I’m actually watching it right now on Animal Planet
Yeah, its “Infested” on Animal Planet, not: “Infested Morons”….lol! Tho, that might work too, if they were continuing to live there! :O
Well I just have to say that was the stupidest thing I have ever read. I’m sorry but IF you’re even awake when u get bit are u seriously gonna stop, grab a jar and try to catch the thing that just but u. Probably not. 95% of the people that do get bit while sleeping. Only because they roll over onto the spider. And as for the family living with all those spiders as long as no one kills one they will be safe. They don’t pose a threat. But as soon as one accidentally steps on one the others will attack any and all threats. I know because I live in Albany Oregon and we have quite a few people bitten here. I am one of them. There are those who have confused a staff infection for a bite. However I know for a fact it was a bite and not an infection. It went from a large hot lump in the morning and by the time the sun went down was a large black scab the size of a half dollar coin. When lanced there was a 2 inch hole in my flesh this all happened in a 24 hr period. I unfortunately wasn’t sleeping in a home when I was bit. I was sleeping in an abandoned car. So I can’t agree with pretty much every thing you have stated except that people do need to chill out because as long as you leave them alone they will do the same. I actually have a couple of little wolf spiders that are my buddy’s. Even after I was baddly bitten I do not allow spiders to be killed in my presence. I’m just saying I have much respect for the spiders that DO live here and ARE dangerous and WILL bite if threatened
Also venom can affect everyone differently. Some people are sensitive and the venom will be very bad. Others it may only affect them like a mosquito bite or a bee sting.
hi,ive lived in oregon for 39yrs,and 22years ago a friend of mine was biten by a brown recluse, right here in lapine,oregon.it was outside in the front yard in the wod pile they were making bundles with.art was a fairly big and tall man then in his 40;s, it was in the high side of the midle of his back,it definately made him very il,the bite was circular and began to rot. yes he ended up in the hospital,was treated,and etc,he was left with a very large and deep portion of his back aten away or rotted whatever,that was in 1994./.the brown recluse does live in central oregon
I do hope you figured our you are both wrong and right. Not recluse spiders. Hobo spiders.New to the Midwest from Europe. Unfortunately thrive in Oregon. Personally I have been bitten by a hobo spider twice. The first time when I was 22. It changed my life in ways you will probably never get.September 14
2017 I got my licence back after 15 years of it being medically revoked The first bite went basically untreated because people unwilling to realize it’s possible for new species to travel with human help. Years later I actually found the spider in bed with me that bit me the second time. Even today studies are fresh with this spider. I guess I was one of the few you wrote about but would love to educate you further on this Spider.
Since this spider is so misunderstood I would love to sit down with an educated person seriously wanting to solve the mystery of hobo spiders. I have five specialists and twenty years of medical records. My first bite was in 1998 when I was barely 22. About five years after the bite my license was medically revoked due to brain deficiencies and other things. There is really too much to just write about. Even still to this day I have problems with residual effects. I have a great respect for spiders now only after conquering a extremely traumatic fear. I study any new information that I can find and sadly realize that much of the information out there is wrong or changing quickly. Ironically I will say I was lucky enough when I was bit the second time to actually find the spider in bed with me in the morning. The second bite happened years after the 1st and due to Medical advancements was actually treated the way it should have been and the recovery time was less than eight months. The second spider bite was definitely positively identified as a hobo spider. From what I can remember from the first spider bite they were both identical just treated differently by the treating doctors.
People do move around and bring non-native species with them. I bought an old dresser from a thrift store in Portland Oregon that had webs behind the drawers that weren’t noticed before the purchase. I put my things in the drawers after I had trusted my boyfriend had dusted it off well. But he had not! I ended up getting bit on my left breast by a brown recluse that was in my bra! I had never as a native Oregonian seen one before, but I took a picture of it and its fiddle mark identified it. I went to then smash it and Ive never seen a spider run so fast! It hid in a crack. I asked my boyfriend to get it out and flush it down the toilet so it couldnt bite anyone else! I wish so badly I wouldve saved it to show the Dr! He only saw the redness and prescribed antibiotics. He said if it had been a brown recluse bite it was like winning the lottery. Odds against it since they arent native to Oregon. The venom attacks epithelial tissue, hence the irregular heart beats I experienced. The first symptom was redness and extreme itchiness. I pulled the drawers out of the dresser to find many webs! I scolded my boyfriend. The thrift store had gotten furniture donated from a recent arrival from Texas. Brown recluse live to hide in dressers. They can survive a very long time without food as well. Look out for yourself.
I got bit by one of the three (Hobo, Black Widow, or Brown Recluse) at Three Creeks Lake towards the end of July of this year. I couldnt identify it because I wasnt looking on the ground; I was looking in the air for a hornet – thats how much the bite stung, I assumed it was a hornet or yellow jacket. After the initial pain subsided, I didnt think much of it until the wound started to turn into a disgusting halo of dead tissue, swelling, irritation and discoloration. That took a couple days to fully appear. Id attach a photo if I could – see if anyone here with experience could identify it. My doctor ran a culture specimen on the wound to determine the venom type, and she speculated it was a recluse; but again she agreed that would be hard to prove as culture samples on venom can only tell you so much. All this to say, over two months later and my wound is still gross and not completely healed. Ive heard it takes time; but but damn am I ready for it to be done!
Once I had been the victim of a hobo spider bite.
There are no brown recluse but there are plenty of spiders that look similar. As someone who lived in Florida, where brown recluse are incredibly common, and Oregon for 20 years each, I can say with certainty there are no *populations* of brown recluse. There very well might be some that hitch a ride from people moving around from other states, though, so it isn’t like they just can’t exist at all, but the way people talk about them implies there is some sort of population of them here, which there just isn’t.